Pongo of Mainique 5 Days
The Pongo de Mainique is a 50-yard-wide, two-miles-long canyon, through which flows the mighty sacred Urubamba River. The Pongo of Mainique is a magnificent site of paradisiac beautiness, deep in the jungle of Cusco. The word ^pongo^^ means gorge, or ravine, a point where the river bursts through the mountains.
DAY 1: CUSCO - QUILLABAMBA.-
Today we begin our descending into the jungle.
Taking our transport we depart from the valley going north to the province of Quillabamba.
Driving over the Abra de Màlaga at 4300m down into the high jungle with its coffee and banana plantations towards our resting place for the night, near from the small market in this province.
Day 2: QUILLABAMBA - YVOCHOTE.-
After having breakfast we get along further north following the mighty Urubamba River, with its twists and turns.
Our guide will teach us about the area, the spectacular flora and fauna, the birds and the fruit in this vibrant area from Cusco, Peru.
Tonight we'll eat and sleep under the stars.
DAY 3: YVOCHOTE - PONGO.-
Passing through the small jungle towns with their effervescent atmosphere we make our way towards the end of the road, getting at the port of Ivochote.
Here we will aboard our motorized canoe for the last part of our journey through the magical Pongo de Mainique, where we will have the opportunity to admire the beauty of this truly spiritual area.
DAY 4: PONGO DE MAINIQUE – IVOCHOTE - QUILLABAMBA.-
We have a special scenery with an amazing early rising sun during the breakfast, and then we aboard the canoe to the port of Ivochote.
We will be back by bus to Quillabamba.
Overnight here.
DAY 5 : QUILLABAMBA - LUCMA – LLACTAPATA.-
We will leave Quillabamba at 7:00am in our private bus, and we'll drive for three hours towards Santa Teresa and Lucmabamba (1870m.), the starting point of our trek.
We will walk for approximately four hours following an uphill path that will start in a tropical valley with lush vegetation and so we'll arrive to Llactapata (2750m.) We will have an amazing view of Machupicchu.
We will camp here.
DAY 6: LLACTAPATA – AGUAS CALIENTES.-
We'll make an early descent to the Urubamba river, which we'll follow upstream to the town of Aguas Calientes located at the bottom of the Machu Picchu mountain.
You can visit the village of Aguas Calientes in the evening and possibly the hot springs.
Overnight here.
DAY 7: MACHUPICCHU – CUSCO.-
We take one of the early buses up to the ancient city of Machu Picchu.
The visit will be leaded by an official guide for approximately 2 hours.
Then we'll have plenty of time to explore the mysterious site on our own before returning to Aguas Calientes to catch the afternoon train returning to Cusco.
TREKKING AND HIKING AROUDN CUSCO: